The Jesus Joint

Jared, my understanding of "the tribulation" begins by the clear indication from John that he himself was in the tribulation when writing the Revelation, "I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus" (1:9). I see the Revelation describing the spiritual reality of the Gospel age in word pictures gathered from Old Testament prophesies and literature. I think the discerning thing to say regarding the judgments and how they "seem a bit mild" is this: Things are not as they appear.

Many times people charge charismatics with being enamored with the spectacular - I think the same charge can be applied (more accurately?) to those who demand the pictures in Revelation to be literal. I would see Paul painting a very stark picture of unbelief and sin in 2 Corinthians 4:1-6 that is much harsher in judgment than the fire from the sky on Sodom and Gomorrah. In my understanding of Revelation, I'm not trying to "over spiritualize" the events, I'm trying to let the Biblical origins of those pictures govern my understanding of those texts.

Just some thoughts here, I hope this is constructive. If I might recommend a few resources that might help introduce you to these things, whether or not you agree in the end: The Last Things by Jeff Perswell. You should be able to download a couple talks he gave on the subject along with outlines for free. Let me know if the links don't work.

Yours,
~Jacob

Just so you know, I have been meaning to download that stuff and definitely plan to, I just still haven't had the chance.

So what excatly does rapture mean????

Many people believe that according to end time prophecies of the bible, that Jesus will take all the christians off of the earth so that they will not have to endure 7 years (or 3 1/2 years or.... a few days or minutes) of tribulation and really horrible horrible things as the antichrist really messes things up. That's the basic idea.

Right now! I want to be with my Lord and Savior forever!

lol amen to that brother... or sister... I'm not sure

LOL, I'm your brother!

Quite honestly, a desire for a delayed Rapture speaks from a shallow understanding of the incomprehensible glory of Heaven. We're talking absolute perfection in every way with everyone at every moment. Instant bodily immortilization and glorification. The greatest possible experience one could enjoy on earth is only a glimpse into the pleasure and satisfaction in Heaven. I'm ready now

I'm ready to get off this rock too to be honest, but I don't wake up every day saying "Please God rapture us now!" I'm ready I guess when the time comes. I have a weird feeling toward the words "delayed rapture" though. Because honestly there's no such thing. I believe God knows exactly the timing of such an event so truly it wouldn't be delayed at all. It will happen on His timing ".

Welcome to the Jesus Joint RyrieGuy! Be sure to tell us more about yourself in Chit Chat in the New Here forum

Pretty much what Tony said.

Also, I'm hesitant to address one's "desire" for the rapture. What a person desires is often different from what actually happens. I'm not saying one way or another with regard to the rapture, but it's just a point I wanted to bring up. For example, those who believe in mid or post trib rapture don't necessarily believe what they do because they <i>desire</i> it, but more because that's what they feel the Bible says. When studying the Bible, we need to put our feelings aside and take the Word for it's...well...word.